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It would be great to use the Fibonnaci sequence but I can never find a simple article to explain how to apply for designing. I start to hear the math info and my eyes glaze over. I have a template for...

Fired from 1st design job!!!HELP!

10-07-2004, 01:45 AM

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So glad I discoverd your forum-
Okay, Im new here! but decided you guys might be able to relate to my pain- Went to college & just graduated last June. Took a non GD job in the meantime to put food on he table. Finally was offered a good paying job ($32K/yr) working for a marketing company. Did my 1st 5 days there last week. Had a lead designer over me (bossy -arrogant-rejected all my mock-ups & criticized my work-in front of the boss).Also I have a boss who cannot communicate for nothing. Yesterday, the lead designer pullled me to the side & just told me that I was not the person for the job & the boss told him to tell me this. Im thinking that I wasn't fast enough for them. I feel really awful-this lead designer kept showing everyone in the office his portfolio(and of course it ROCKS! he has like 10 years experience-all SELF taught-no degree whatsoever).

They want me to produce logos, ads, etc in only a few hours time & it was taking me a few days to finish at least 2-3 projects. Well that wasn't good enough for them, so they let me go. Not sure if the designer lead had anything to do with it but Im sure he did. It's really a small company & they might be feeling that I wasn't good enough for what they are paying me. I mean, who knows?? Good thing is I don't have to design all those annoying pop up email ads with false claims to 'make $5,000 a week from home' LIES & such anymore!!! Oh gosh-what we put up with & do to make a living & do DESIGN work!
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I'm discouraged-It blows & hurts raw to be rejected-Now I have 0 confidence that another design firm would hire me. Granted that the former job really wasn't my dream job. I just needed a job & experience in the GD field.
I would really like to work for an ad agency or a design firm or a magazine,newspaper..
It's tough & I tried looking for 2 months & all I found was that lousy old job-designing internet marketing scam emails!!! [img]/emoticons/blink.gif[/img]
Feeling humiliated here-
Is this the norm in this GD Design field? Maybe its the market where I live. I live in Vegas-just moved here last June BTW.
Or it may just be that job-Its really my 1st job & I was excited & flattered to be offered the position but to be fired after a week?

I don't even want to talk to my old boss (she was a close friend) -I did administrative-management stuff for her for a few months & quit that job for this one-Now I feel ashamed-I should've kept the old job.
Just don't want to hear 'I told you so' from others. Plus facing the other questions, so 'how is your NEW job????' From others [img]/emoticons/eyes.gif[/img]Don't want to tell them, I got fired! It wasn't for me! Ughhh!

Any ENCOURAGING UPLIFTING WORDS wil be received-
Help me go out there & try to look for a decent GD or multimedia related job again!!! [img]/emoticons/eyecrazy.gif[/img] [img]/emoticons/blowingup.gif[/img]
Did I just waste my time & money going to college?
Thanks for letting me vent? [img]/emoticons/ohmy.gif[/img]

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So there is a job opening somewhere? Where??!
Just kidding, keep your head up. you are new and this stuff happens. I am shocked they didnt work with you on this? I give you props for landing the job in the first place, yo umust of did something to impress them. I am still freelancing, and I started looking for a full time gig two months ago, so far, nada. So just look at the bright side, take what you learned, now you know what to expect (although I am willing to bet most companies wont treat you the way they did, and work with you a bit more, 5 days is barely enough time to get into your groove and be comfortable belting out work) What was this place? I will be sure to avoid it!

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. ~Oscar Wilde

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First of all, welcome to the GDF. I think that you'll like it here... it's a great 'support group' in times of need, and a great learning tool the rest of the time. Now, back to the topic at hand:

I totally feel for you, macmom. I got laid off in May - long story short, CEO took the money and ran, then closed the plant and left about 50 of us jobless. I know where you're coming from as far as facing those questions. .. NOT FUN! It feels like failure, but it's just a part of life.

Let me give you the same advice that a very loving and supportive boyfriend gave me: sometimes things work out the way you expected and sometimes they don't, but everything happens for a reason. Don't look at this as a mistake, and don't beat yourself up over what you 'should have done' (I was always doing this!). Be proud of yourself for taking the risk.

Look for a job doing 'prepress' for a print shop... it's a good place to start, and you'll learn A LOT!

Here's my best advice, but 4 months later I'm still working on my job-search, so take it with a grain of salt...

1) meet with your local unemployment agency. ask what resources they have to help you find another job. I personally signed up for free classes through our local 'Career Center' which included things like resumes, cover letters, 10 steps to inding your next job, and how to uncover jobs in the 'hidden job market'. It also helped me a lot to meet with others going through the same thing as me.

2) take out your phone book. Call each and every print shop, ad agency, newspaper, etc. Ask for the name of the art director, and the correct spelling of the name.

3) write a letter to the art director - keep it brief, but ask for an appointment (no more than 15-20 minutes) to meet with them to critique your resume and portfolio. tell them that you'll call them next week to follow up - AND DO IT!

4) write up a list of questions to ask at the meeting. (i.e. - How did you get your job? What skills would your ideal employee have? etc) Fine tune your resume, double check your portfolio (usually 10 - 15 samples of your best work, from what I'm told. (Do a forum search re: portfolio, because I know there's a lot of info on here!)

5) at the meeting, ask if the art director knows of anyone that you should contact for more information, etc.

I'm told that these 'informational interviews' yield a job offer once out of 12 tries, but a resume alone only works once out of 200 attempts. If you have questions, I'd be happy to help.

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Yeah the phone book is were its at, I called every single place in AZ right when I got out of college, granted I never got hired, but i know everyone in town saw my resume for at least 2 seconds!

Keep your head up, your still fresh in the field, shit it took me years to be able to bust out an ad, a logo, and other mixed media in a day. Learning shortcuts, and also working for a printer doing production is probably the best thing you can do. I know I learned probably a 1000 times more working production then I did in school, not only that but I had a great designer who I worked with that taught me all the shortcuts and literally brought me up to speed. My problem now is, im super fast at what I do, but I lack the creativity the majority of the time.....im jobless too so keep your head up, and welcome to the GDF!

A Tribute To Homer S."Getting out of jury duty is easy. The trick is to say you're prejudiced against all races."

"Don't worry. Being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep... in a blender."

"Maybe, just once, someone will call me "sir" without adding, "you're making a scene."

"Ooh, the internet is on computers now."

"Son, when you attend sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose, it's how drunk you get."

"To start, press any key. Where's the 'any' key?"

"Lisa, if you don't like your job you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way."digitalcamwhore

‘Our great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately controlled. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of men.’ - Woodrow Wilson

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How about you show us some of your work Macmom in the showcase section, then we'll let you know the truth & hopefully help you get better to a level where you can make it past week one. The lead designer - was a pancake face, but, thus is the nature of the business & you may meet that species at alomst every GD job you pursue. So look at it this way, you just got your first GD 'real world' experience point! Only 659 to go & you win a career! Keep you head up - just focus on the fact that one day if you work hard you can be that arsehole with the crazy portfolio firing newbies because they smell or design to slow. Karma's a bitch - and someone always has to get pooped on (just the way it goes).

-'Better to be the one doing the pooping, than the one getting poopie all over their new cashmire vest.' - Socrates

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Thats my worst fear, I'm part of a pilot group for a company, if this doesnt work out I'm sure they'd show us the door, but all is well so far. BTW where you located maybe we can find some leads for ya

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You guys are just so amazing!
Can't believe how wonderful your posts are-I'm really encouraged seriously!
I dried my tears already & got it off my system. A friend of mine emailed me the current msn.com article, 'Career Crashes of the Rich & Famous'. That made me smile. I mean, c'mon, Walt Disney was fired for lack of ideas?? INCONCEIVABLE!!! LOL!

Seriously now, I have a directing/editing job to do next week-its a freebie and Im doing it for my portfolio & also for experience but it is slated for release in Asia. We'll see how this pans out.

I am looking forward to hanging out here & learning from you all. Thanks for the warm welcome.

BTW, I live in Las Vegas. If you know or hear of anything here design-multimedia-media related-give me a holler- [img]/emoticons/thumbsup.gif[/img]

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How about taking a job in prepress? It may not pay alot right off but it will teach you more than you ever learned in school and will help you an unbelievable amount in your career. Also the newspapers around are probobly always looking for ad designers. I know ours here are. Again, not a glorious design job but it will certainly help you get your foot in the door. It helped me. Very very fast paced but we have no doubt you can do it!!! ;o) Like everyone said - keep your head up! Something will happen for you. Its a hard field to get your foot into the door but once you do it, your there!

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Don't you just hate smart-ass, my crap don't stink because i am the best.. types of bosses? Same thing for clients, i have told bosses to lick my puckered (insert word for bootie hole here that you prefer) and even told clients to get screwed. Take it with a grain of salt about being fired so quickly, the lead guy was probably worried that you would show him and take his job. If he had pulled me aside and said some crap like that, he would probably had problems getting up off the floor and he would have talked funny for a few days, what an asshole. You deserve better, and you will find it.

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Macmom in our field critiques and in your case getting canned can hurt your esteem. We are an industry where truly only the strong survive. Chock it up as an experience as everyone said. You never truly fail till you give up.

My wife was telling me a story (she just heard in school) about a young man that failed in everything he did. He was a failure at school, no body liked him, his grades where in the gutter constantly flunking and repeating the same grade. But he knew he wasn’t gonna give up. He went as afar as submitting some work to Disney to see if he could get a job drawing for them cause if one thing he did know was how to draw (he thought). They rejected him too saying that he just wasn’t good enough. He never gave up until he became famous, today we all know him as Charles Shultz the creator of Peanuts.

So the point is you only fail when you give up. Keep it moving you are who you believe you are not what other say.

Graphic Design Heroes! Call me Captain Type Caster. I’ve fought off “The Evil Cosmic Sans” for year but it seems “Dr. Extreme Untalent” keeps bringing him back. I must find a way to defeat this evil creature.

Capt. Creative bring me those comps…

Post Edited (benjo...) : 10/7/2004 5:42:11 PM GMT

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Hey macmom - I forgot to mention... design yourself a 'job search' card - like a business card, but advertising you as an employee. I use these listing my contact information, the type of work I do, a graphic I designed in place of a 'logo', and the tag line 'Not looking for a job; searching for a career'.